Aircore's announced introduction signals a make-good measure for city officials, who have sought to capitalize on the Trump administration's push to secure more investment from Asian countries.

Shea Johnson Staff Writer @DP_Shea

ADELANTO — Last month, Mayor Rich Kerr urged officials to open up land on Adelanto's west side in the event Asian investors came calling. Now, it appears one has, and his as-seen-on-TV cookware brand's entry into the city is "signed, sealed and delivered."

On Wednesday, it was revealed that the team behind Aircore Cookware, which boasts an 80,000-square-foot facility in China, purchased three properties near Rancho and Verbena roads.

Two of the properties are for future development, according to project architect Mike Pontius, but one will be an Aircore manufacturing plant on 2 1/2 acres.

"It will represent 100,000 square feet on two floors total," Pontius said, "and that will be to my knowledge the largest manufacturing plant in the city of Adelanto, at least today."

Even though the three properties are a bit east of the land Kerr previously expressed targeting for foreign development, Aircore's announced introduction signals a make-good measure for city officials, who have sought to capitalize on the Trump administration's push to secure more investment from Asian countries.

The three properties, marking roughly 10 acres, also represent 250 full-time jobs, the latest in a series of employment projections that have officials here bullish about trimming an unemployment rate that had been 8.5 percent heading into 2017.

In fact, since mid-September, new underway developments have accounted for combined projections of more than 1,300 full-time jobs, excluding temporary sub-contracting and construction work, and in at least half those cases, developers have guaranteed the city a certain percentage of the labor force will be plucked from Adelanto.

"I'm trying to emphasize a point that Adelanto is not two-years-ago Adelanto. Adelanto is growing and growing and growing," Kerr said. Then speaking of the projects by Aircore owner Peter Park: "This is not just something we're hoping might come, this is done. This is signed, sealed and delivered."

Pontius, who said Aircore has been in business for 20 years, emphasized that all three projects — which he added represented up to $50 million in investments — are already in the queue and will begin to move dirt "as fast as the city can issue permits."

Kerr, as did Pontius, lauded the city's staff and Jessie Flores, a close ally to the mayor who has overseen economic development here since last year.

"We as a Council promised you ... when I was elected, that we were going to move forward and we were going to make this city the gem of the High Desert," Kerr said, "and we're going to, whether anybody else likes it or not or whether we get any freaking help or not."

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.

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